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"W. H. TOMLINSONK, DOUGHNUT MACHINE.' APPLICATION FILED MAII. I5, I9I'a. IIENEwED AUG. Ig, uns.

1,320,669, K Patented Nov. 4,1919.

WALTER n. ToMLINsoN, or cnrcneo, IILLINoIs.

DOUGHNUT-MACHINE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4i, i919.

Application led March 15,1918, Serial No. 222,544. Renewed August 14, 1919. Serial No. 317,584.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. TOMLIN- soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in DoughnutfMachines, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and

. turned over and, after a further mined length of time, be automatlcally rebrowned.

exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings, whic form a part of this specication.

Doughnuts, in order that they may be properly fried, must be kept in the grease a predetermined length of time and, as they are light enough to oat, must be turned over so as to permit both sides to become The object vof the present invention is to produce a simple means of which douglhnuts or the like may be kept in a` bath of ot grease for a predetermined length of time, be automatically predetermoved from the grease.

The varlous features of novelty whereby m invention is characterized will herein 4.a r be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inl connectionr with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure lis a side elevation of a machine arranged in accordance with my invention, the vat or tank for containing the grease bein shown in section;

(Fig. 2 is a section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of a fragment of the conveyer; and

Fig. 4 is a section on a still larger scale on a plane extending longitudinali of the tiie plane thereof.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a vat or tank of any suitable size and shape adapted to be heated in any suitable way as, for example, by meansof one or more burners, 2, lying underneath the same.v A skeleton framework, indicated as a whole at 3, is constructed and arranged to be set detach'- ably into the vat or tank; the framework `and novel machine by' lanes while the end of the conveyer 4 adacent to the conveyer 5 is inclined upwardly so as to overlie one end of the latter conveyer. The other end of the conveyer 5 is also inclined upwardly so as to brin the upper portion-thereof above the top lo the corresponding end of the tank or vat.

It will be seen that if the tank or vat is filled with hot grease to a level slightly above the upper halves of thehorizontal portions of the conveyers, the conveyers are drivenin the same direction, so that the upper halves are moving toward the right hand end in Fig. l; doughnuts may be laid upon the left hand end of the conveyer 4 and be carried slowly through the hot grease until they are nicely brownedv on the under side, whereupon they will ride up the incline at the center of the vat or tank and be dropped onto the left hand end of the conveyer 5; each doughnut being turned over in its passage from one conveyer to the other so that when the half fried doughnuts reach vthe conveyer 5, the undone parts are on the under side and the browned parts are faced u wardly; the doughnuts being carried slow y by the conveyer 5 through the hot Ygrease until they are completely fried and then being carried upon the incline at the right,

hand end of the apparatusI where they willv the grease should be so high as to' loat the doughnuts above the conveyers.

The horizontal portions of the conveyers may be kept in proper alinement in any suitable way. Thus, horizontal tracks, 9, may be provided for engaging the edges of the upper halves of the horizontal portions of the conveyers from underneath and simi- 'lov lar tracks, 10., may be provided for overlying the lower halves of the horizontal portions of the conveyers. The conveyers preferably'run over rollers extending the entire Width thereof; there being rollers, 11 and i 12, at the ends of the horizontal portion of the conveyer 4 and there being rollers, 13 and 14, at the ends of the horizontal portions of the conveyer 5. The inclination of the righi hand ends of the conveyer devices is secured by passing the conveyer 4 over a roller, 15, lying to the right of the roller 12 and near the top of the frame, while the conveyer 5A is passed over a roller, 16, lying to the right of the roller 14 and above the top of the frame.

In order to take the driving strain from the slatted conveyers and secure a positive cordinated movement 0f the two conveyers, assuming of course that suitable provision is made for simultaneously driving at least one ofthe rollers associated with each conveyer, each conveyer is preferably edged at opposite sides with a sprocket chain, 17, which sprocket chains pass over suitable sprocket wheels, 18, on the ends of the various rollers.

If desired,the extreme left hand end of the conveyer 4 may be inclined upwardly and passed around v.a roller, 19, which nominally lies above the grease level; this roller being provided with adjusting means, 20, by meansof which slack in the conveyer may be taken up.

If desired, the doughnuts may be delivered to the apparatus by means of a suitable endless conveyer, 21, which passes over a roller, 22, extending transversely across the left hand end of the conveyer 4. By driving the member 21 in the same direction as the conveyers 4 and- 5 it will be seen that doughnuts, 23, may be placed on the former at any suitable point and be carried` to. and deposited upon the conveyer 4.

Any suitab-le means may be providedfor driving the conveyers. In the' arrangement shown, there is 'a sprocketl chain drive, 24. While I have illustrated and. described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend.

to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In an apparatus. of the character described, a receptacle for hot grease, mechanism for turning doughnuts or the like over after they have been in said receptacle for a predetermined length of time, and mechanism for thereafter removing them after A a further predetermined length of time.

less conveyers arranged one in each end of lsaid receptacle, one of said conveyers being caused to travel upwardly in the vicinity of the other conveyer so as to overlie that end of the latter conveyer.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a receptacle for hot grease, two endless conveyers arranged one in each end of said receptacle, one of said conveyers being caused to travel upwardly in the vicinity that end of the latter conveyer, and the latter conveyer being caused to travel up-` `wardly in the vicinity of the endY of the receptacle to bring it above the top of the receptacle.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specifcation.

WALTER H. TOMLINSON.

of the other conveyer so as' to overlie y 

